Aerial Photography Business

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Hello there, I am looking at getting into the aerial Photography business and I was wondering how you charge people for this? By the hour? By the photo? Etc. I want to make it as affordable as I can for anyone, so people would come to me as there first choice when they see the price difference between me and other competitors. Thanks


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We have clients all over the US and it really seems to vary by region / location and the service you provide. Where are you located?
 
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What does your portfolio look like? How much experience do you have? What AC do you fly? How are your editing skills? What is the value of the service to the client? Industry and ultimate use of the image is a major factor? Are you selling the images outright straight off the memory card? Can you produce a certificate of currency for liability insurance? There are a lot of factors to consider.

You will need more than offering the cheapest price in your sales pitch. The old saying holds true here- the quality is remembered long aftet the price is forgotten.
 
And as of now I have the P3 advanced. But I am trying to save us and upgrade to the P4 pro and provide better pictures to customers


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Just go ahead and do it mate. Do it as you feel and with what you have at hand, no need to obssess about equipment. It´s just tools mostly, even though some will try to make you think otherwise. Just keep going and acting accordinlgy, as needed and as you learn and grow.

Don´t be put off nor excited by what other people say. It´s just a business, so for the most part it´s only as hard as any other business, no more no less. The difference is if you love it and believe in yourself then you have a good chance.

It´s still a relatively a new market, there´s a lot of space to grow. And even the most experienced companies and operators are hardly a decade old. Ok that sounds like a lot, but everyone is still climbing the learning curve and pretty much going along together, mostly because tech is still in infancy and evolving super fast. Develop your own clientele and you´re in for the most part.

Work on developing your style too, photography and filming is essentially "art" and sensibility, so maybe you´re the next best guy regardless of your drone and photography skills. Just don´t undercut prices too much or else you may be limiting yourself and the whole market.

Competition is good, but be loyal, honest and think long term to improve you and everyone else´s chances.I honestly wish you the best luck.
 
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Ok perfect thanks!!! So is there a good price to start at, or how should I be pricing things. Cause right now I have no clue


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots
 
Ok perfect thanks!!! So is there a good price to start at, or how should I be pricing things. Cause right now I have no clue


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots
How many battery's do you have? If you have 3, you could charge 50-60 an hour. Or 20 per battery used.

Or if you are creating a video, you could charge (edited and maybe with music) 40 (and that's with your time) for a video in the 5-10 minute range or about 8 minutes. And for pictures...
origanl=5
edited=10
printed=10 if original, 18 if edited.
framed=20-25 if original, 30-35 if edited

Something like that?.

Or you can check out this DJI forum here.

DJI forum - How Much You Should Charge For Arial Photograph and or Video

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As I said, it's business like any other. So I guess the best way is to do a research, call other companies in your area and maybe even other states and inquire about prices for different services. You only need to have a "feel" in order to anchor your starting prices.

From there you can adjust by feel as you move on, like as you get get inquiries and start negotiations with clients, etc.. If that sounds like taking too long, you can make a list of potential clients (business you might think would be interested in the service you provide), get in touch and ask if they'd have a minute or two for a quick presentation, and you could end by asking how much they'd be willing to pay of this or that if they were to hire you. I do that with all my companies early on because it's not only a good way to do market research and gauge interest, but also a bit of advertising as well!

My own experience is that prices vary quite a lot, because as I said it's in good part a forming market so most new clients don't have much experience hiring drone pilots. Also as mentioned by other colleagues here there are many variables not only to the capturing itself, but also the final product that will be delivered to the client.

If you gather a bit of info as suggested above you can draft a pricing list with the different services you want to provide, or grouping services as "packages" and stuff like that, promotional packages and stuff like that.

Sorry if that doesn't help much but I'm not in US so it's hard for me to know how the market works or the actual prices charged.

PS.: I have a "mobilization" fee which is basically a minimum fee for being at the location as hired, and I also charge "travel" to the location. Both fees are independent from the "job fee" and also non-refundable, at least in most cases.
 
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